"Customers were saying, 'Your
food doesn't taste the same,'" Jason Marker, KFC's US president,
said Monday in a press event. "We're not making the food the same
way the Colonel had, and we're not making food in what he
described as 'the hard way.' Today marks the end of that."

Effective immediately, if
customers aren't satisfied with their KFC order, the restaurant
will remake whatever aspect of their meal fell short. The chain
has rolled out an extensive "chicken mastery certification"
program, spending more than 100,000 hours retraining more than
20,000 employees.

KFC’s focus on going back to its
roots comes after a few years of incredible sales growth at rival
Chick-fil-A.

In 2012, Chick-fil-A passed KFC
as the No. 1 chicken chain in the US by sales, despite having
fewer locations. Last year, Chick-fil-A says its system-wide
sales topped$6.1 billion,with same-store-sales growth in
the double-digits.

Much of the growth in recent
years has been rooted in major changes — many of which have
helped differentiate Chick-fil-A from KFC.

The chain has centered its menu
on healthy and higher-quality offerings, launching a
premium-coffee line and anew grilled-chicken
recipein 2014,
plus a kale and broccolini saladearlier this
year. Chick-fil-A is
increasingly marketing itself as a family-centric restaurant
with dine-in potential, rolling out table service and "Mom’s
Valet" for parents with young children.

With these changes, Chick-fil-A
has portrayed itself as a community-minded place to take a break,
setting itself apart from the negative reputations that plague
the fast-food industry.

Kate
Taylor

Now it looks as though KFC is
doing much the same thing.

While KFC isn’t trying to be as
family-focused as Chick-fil-A, it is similarly
attempting to establish itself as an authentic and
higher-quality dining option.

The recent Colonel-centric
marketing campaign and even the idea of "Re-Colonelization" puts
the chain’s historical and culinary roots front and center. New
menu items such as Nashville Hot Chicken similarly emphasize
craft and creativity, attempting to disabuse customers of the
notion that KFC simply sells cheap, low-quality chicken.

"We’re like a football team …
that was once great," Marker said in the event. "And [now] the
fans are kind of like, 'What are you guys doing? Come
on.'"

As KFC plans its comeback, it’s
going to have to compete with Chick-fil-A. Fortunately for KFC,
Chick-fil-A has created a playbook full of notes on how to win
over customers from coast-to-coast — and the chicken chain seems
ready to imitate some of its rival's plays.